


The Ugly Duckling

by polarbear_tutu



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Bullying, M/M, Weight Gain
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-24
Updated: 2013-04-24
Packaged: 2017-12-09 09:00:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,117
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/772404
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/polarbear_tutu/pseuds/polarbear_tutu
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>John was a normal child. He listened to his father, he did his homework, and he was polite. But not everyone saw him that way.. [bleh bad at summaries sorry]</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Ugly Duckling

“Goodnight,” he said as he shared a chaste kiss with you. “I love you my duckling.”

You return his kind words with your own and close the door to your apartment. You walk back to your couch and think about his sweet words. His words that, he well knew, brought back memories. But he meant well, he would never hurt you. Nonetheless, you couldn’t help but begin to relapse back into those painful memories.

You think about when it all started. Ah yes, kindergarten. The first day of kindergarten, to be more precise. With your family owning a multi-billion dollar dessert company, it was normal for your father to bust out cakes at the rate he did. He also made you eat most of it. You’d assume a person eating so many confections would tip the scale a bit, and boy did you do just that. But you were fine with yourself, you were a strapping young lad in your father’s eyes.

However, that’s where all your problems started. The moment you stood up in front of that small group of mocking children and introduced yourself, your confidence faded before their laughter did. Sure you still had some baby fat on you, but was it really that bad? You never understood it. You never understood why being a little top heavy was so bad, or why you were made fun of for it. You were outcasted, left alone with broken crayons to draw with. But you didn’t mind, you kept going. Your father gave you all the positive reassurance you needed. Yup, just fine.

~

Things, of course, changed as you got older, and not in a good way. You began elementary school with the same kids. As expected, they all dragged this whole charade along with them. It only got worse when the teacher introduced a new book: The Ugly Duckling. The moment the teacher showed the cover of the book the class, the phrase was on everybody’s foul lips and thrown at you. “John’s the real ugly duckling!” It wasn’t until the teacher silenced them and read the book to us all that you understood what it meant. What you still didn’t understand was why you were the ugly duckling of them all. With no friends, you didn’t know who to turn to for help understanding. So naturally, you went to your father.

You explained it to him through your tears and hiccups and he sat you down and silenced you.

He said to you, in his loving, fatherly, voice, “John, you aren’t an ugly duckling. You’re a very smart, wonderful young man. I’m proud of you, son. Don’t let people’s words get to you,” he pauses to wipe a falling tear on your cheek, “Come on now, Egberts don’t cry. You’re strong and I know you can handle this.”  
You stopped crying, gave him the biggest smile you could muster up and a close hug. He obviously went on and baked you a cake that night, no surprise. You were feeling better already! Alas, it all reset again the next morning at school.

~

You were stuck with that nickname, Ugly Duckling, all the way through middle school, when the bullying escalated. As any problem escalates, it does for negative reasons. People still called you The Ugly Duckling, with some other words added to the list. Words like “lard” and “blubber face” rang like bells in the halls and in your head, non-stop. You ignored it all, you were better than them. You knew you weren’t overweight, and you knew you weren’t an ugly duckling. Your dad would never lie to you. So you kept going; you pushed through the torments and taunts and you kept strong. It was all going to change one day, and you were going to shine in high school!

~

Boy, were you wrong. You made it to high school fine and you stayed true to who you were. You never let the tormentors get you down. However, things changed, being as unlucky as you are. Now it wasn’t just verbal taunting, it became physical too. It wasn’t bad though, just small shoves and the occasional slapping your books out of your hand. When they noticed that the bullying wasn’t getting to you, they decided to turn it up a notch. They started calling you “faggot” and “gay,” and let’s not forget the nickname “Ugly Duckling.”

You started coming home with unwanted bruises and bloody noses. You hid from your father because you didn’t want him to worry, you hated seeing his happy face and inherited, blue eyes sad. He was working long hours so it wasn’t too hard to avoid him. He’d leave you sticky notes around the house about dinner in the fridge or to have a good day. Sometimes you missed him, but you weren’t a kid anymore. You had to learn to let go of your dad eventually, and you guess this the time to start. But you’d be lying if you were to say it hurt to not have him around when you needed him, he was your your support, your 'rock.' He was the only family you had left. Without friends and really any family, you were left alone to face problems and hardships. Naturally, you got worse. You became depressed and smiled less. You didn’t talk very much anymore, no one would listen to you anyways. So you kept quiet, all to yourself. There seemed to be no hope for any happiness for you anymore.

~

Surprisingly, things changed when you got out of high school. Your dad, strangely enough, interacted with you more through long written, encouraging emails. You were able to study what you liked most: biology.  
Most importantly, you met Dave, the love of your life. He’s tough physically but as soft as a cloud emotionally. He’s a cool dork and he loves you. Yes, **loves** you. You never thought anyone would really find interest in you in such a way, beside your father, but you can’t complain.  
Through Dave, you met his sister Rose and her friend Jade. You four became as close as friends possibly could. It almost seemed like fate you four found each other. Jade was bubbly and overzealous, while Rose was calm and all knowing. Dave was solid and confident, while you were all over the place and clumsy. They accepted you and you loved them with everything you had, and you couldn’t have been more thankful for anything in your life. You were happy where you were in your life, and you were determined to keep things that way.

No more were you known as the “Ugly Duckling.”

You were John Egbert, the **not** so ugly duckling.

**Author's Note:**

> A big thanks to everyone who read it! I encourage any feedback in the comments.


End file.
